E15 TAKES ANOTHER STEP FORWARD ON THE WAY TO FUEL SAVINGS

APRIL 2012

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(Posted Mon. Apr 2nd, 2012)

Apr. 2: At a time when gas prices are on the rise, the approval today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of E15 blended fuel, with 15 percent ethanol, is a good milestone of progress for the industry and a boon to the U.S. economy, according to the National Corn Growers Association. Today, EPA approved the first applications for registering ethanol for use in making E15; however, there are other steps that must be taken at the federal, state and local levels before it will be seen in gas stations.

“We’ve been working for a long time to make E15 a real choice for drivers, and we’re happy to see this step forward,” said NCGA President Garry Niemeyer. “We hope that within a matter of months we can get this important blend into vehicles to help decrease our nation’s reliance on foreign oil and help bring gas prices down.”

Click here for information from the EPA on E15 and an explanation of the thorough registration process. Even before the EPA began its testing process for E15 blend compatibility in cars and light trucks, NCGA collected links to numerous studies pointing out how the fuel blend has already been tested. Click here for that information.

Earlier, NCGA reported how the U.S. Energy Information Agency estimating the average retail cost of gasoline to be $3.79 per gallon in 2012 and $3.72 per gallon in 2013. In a recent report on ethanol and gas prices, the Renewable Fuels Association outlined some of the causes of the increased gas prices and noted that economists last year found that using ethanol reduced gasoline prices by an average of 89 cents per gallon in 2010, which means that the average American household spent $800 less on gasoline than would have otherwise been the case without ethanol.